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What's this? More Velodrome?

Since Restore Cootes interviewed Dundas councillor Russ Powers, the Velodrome has once again come back from the dead in Dundas. What is going on behind the scenes?
What follows is the relevant excerpt from the October 5 2010 Economic Development and Planning (E.D.P.) minutes:

Ferguson: [1:36:39] Okay, item 8.2 which is addition of lands to the Niagara Escarpment Cootes Paradise lands. Joanne, do you want to give us an overview of this.

Hickey-Evans: The elevator speech?

Ferguson: Yeah, the elevator speech, thank you.

Hickey-Evans: Just very quickly, the Niagara Escarpment has received an order in council to add additional lands to their portfolio, as it were, their plan area, and it’s a two step process. And now as the second part of the process they’ve identified the appropriate designations for this land, and this land is simply a very small sliver adjacent to Olympic Park and the Hydro building, and it’s all publicly-owned land. And the proposed designations are protection and natural. And by and large we don’t have a problem with the designations, with the exception of two sites. And those two sites relate to our city owned park, which is Olympic – it’s called Olympic Park. It has an arena and several sports fields. And then the second is the Ontario Hydro building including maintenance and storage yard. And we feel that these lands should not be included in the Niagara Escarpment Plan at all. They should just remain within the city’s jurisdiction. And so the recommendation before you is to have these lands removed from the Niagara Escarpment Planning Area. And that we work in conjunction with the province to undertake that. So it’s a fairly complicated regulatory process that we are involved in at this time.

Ferguson: Councillor Pearson

Pearson: Mr Chairman, and I thank for the report there, verbally, and I agree because I was reading through and it could create some problems for us moving into the future, as far as any works that we want to do on facilities on the land, etc. So I report staff’s recommendation.

Whitehead: There is a site for the velodrome, if I remember right, and I can’t remember if this site, this area was identified as one of the sites. So I’m just a bit concerned, that if you do this, that obviously we need to take the site off as potential.

Ferguson: It actually has the opposite effect, because if we take it out of the NEC control then in fact you could put the velodrome

Whitehead: You allow it to happen, okay.

Ferguson: Right, it’s the opposite effect.

Whitehead: Okay, then.

Ferguson: Okay, then further discussion? All in favour? Carried. [1:39:14]

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